Egypt calls for cooperation among Nile Basin countries, rejects ‘unilateral measures’ on river

CAIRO

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty underscored the importance of cooperation among the Nile Basin countries, rejecting any unilateral measures on the waterway, the country’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.

A ministry statement said that Abdelatty met in Nairobi on Monday with Kenyan President William Ruto during which he delivered a message from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to his Kenyan counterpart.

In the message, Sisi hailed the elevation of bilateral relations to the level of a strategic partnership between the two countries and the signing of the Cairo Declaration during Ruto’s visit to Cairo last month.

On water security, Abdelatty stressed the importance of cooperation and consensus among Nile Basin states, rejecting “unilateral measures” on the river and reiterating support for “ongoing consultations within the Nile Basin Initiative framework.”

Egyptian Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam, for his part, reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to enhancing technical cooperation with Kenya in groundwater well drilling, the construction of rainwater-harvesting dams, the operation of modern irrigation systems, as well as capacity building and training.

The Nile River is shared by 11 countries, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt, and stretches about 6,650 kilometers.

In 1999, the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) for Nile Basin states, known as the Entebbe Agreement, was announced.

Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi signed the agreement in 2010, with South Sudan joining in July 2024, amid continued opposition from Egypt and Sudan.

Cairo and Khartoum argue that the agreement fails to respect the 1902, 1929 and 1959 accords, which set specific water allocations, 55.5 billion cubic meters for Egypt and 18.5 billion cubic meters for Sudan, and grant both countries veto rights over Nile projects that could negatively affect water volumes or alter their timing.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul.